When Call of Duty: Black Ops II arrives on the Wii U and PC it will do so without Call of Duty Elite support, according to Activision. The company says that they are examining options to offer Elite on the Wii U and PC, but at launch it is confirmed for certain that it will not be supported on the Wii U and PC.

The PC never did get Elite for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3; but perhaps because of the new free offerings that are a part of Elite this time around, it could be that Black Ops II might stand a much better chance in seeing this happen.

So, if you want to make use of Elite, then you are going to have buy either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions of the game out of the gate. It is hard to say how much Activision is into getting Elite on those two platforms, but short of the fans really crying out to Activision for it, it is hard to see into our crystal ball and predict if it will happen or not.

Looking at options to add support for both

When Call of Duty: Black Ops II arrives on the Wii U and PC it will do so without Call of Duty Elite support, according to Activision. The company says that they are examining options to offer Elite on the Wii U and PC, but at launch it is confirmed for certain that it will not be supported on the Wii U and PC.

The PC never did get Elite for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3; but perhaps because of the new free offerings that are a part of Elite this time around, it could be that Black Ops II might stand a much better chance in seeing this happen.

So, if you want to make use of Elite, then you are going to have buy either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions of the game out of the gate. It is hard to say how much Activision is into getting Elite on those two platforms, but short of the fans really crying out to Activision for it, it is hard to see into our crystal ball and predict if it will happen or not.

Activision has finally confirmed what many have suspected for some time now: the company has confirmed Call of Duty: Elite. Elite will be for players of Call of Duty titles and will support Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3 to start with; but it is expected that all future CoD titles will support Elite going forward.

Explaining what Elite is about is difficult right now because the service and capabilities of the service are still evolving. We know that it will offer a social networking component as well as a very specific and specialized analysis of your play performance, complete with statistics, breakdowns, and feedback on areas for improvement.

While some parts of Elite will be free and open to the general public, other areas will be so called “premium-only” areas that will require a paid subscription to access. We are under the impression that paid premium users will obtain DLC and map packs at no extra charge, but that non-premium users will be able to purchase this content if they so choose.

Activision is very careful to say that no one will be locked out of online multiplayer. The company is also cautious to state that players will never have to “pay” to play Call of Duty titles online. The Elite application might in some ways be very similar to what we have seen with Microsoft’s Halo Waypoint; but Activision plans to take Elite in new directions by offering access to it both within the game and in a separate application, and even on mobile platforms using an Elite application that will be available for some mobile devices. (Activision has not yet committed which mobile devices they will support.)

Elite will enter a public beta to test this support, and Activision is hopeful that they will see a 100% subscription rate to the free features. The company is also hopeful that the premium service will prove popular, as well, but until Activision releases more specifics at E3 we don’t know what to expect. No pricing has been announced, and we are not sure if it will be announced at E3 or not. Look for more details next week that should help give us more of the specifics.

As we told you previously, the Xbox 360 Elite holiday bundle with Forza 3 and Alan Wake that has been showing up in other regions as well as Canada will also be available this holiday season in the U.S. Microsoft has had a tradition the last few years in offering a holiday bundle as an incentive to buyers.

The Forza 3 and Alan Wake Elite bundle does, however, offer something that we have not seen before from a Microsoft holiday bundle. This unique twist comes in the form of Forza 3 as the only game that actually has discs in the box. Alan Wake will be offered instead as a Free Game Download card, with a code that allows the owner to download the 6.3GB game onto the Xbox 360 hard drive. So, if you want your Alan Wake, you will have to download it.

The rest of the bundle is the same affair as normal. It will include the Elite console in black with the 250GB hard drive, a single black wireless controller, wired headset, and, of course, the standard RCA composite video cable for connection to your display device. The HD cable options are available separately.

Apparently, sources are telling us that there actually isn’t a launch date this time around, and the Elite 250GB Forza 3/Alan Wake bundles will be hitting retailers as they order additional product. We expect most retailers to have the new consoles on shelves at some point during the month of November. It will retail for the standard $300 price tag and join the other console packages in the Xbox 360 console offerings this holiday season.

A number of sources tell us that a limited number of the Halo Reach Limited Edition Xbox 360 consoles are still available from retailers. While Microsoft is not making any more of these consoles, we hear from those in the field that you can still find the Halo Reach console if you are willing to do a little digging. This presents another option for those considering an Xbox 360 console purchase for this holiday season.

Word has come from Electronic Arts that the delayed release of NBA Elite 11 has now ended in cancellation of the title. While the killing off of this version does not spell the end of the franchise, EA will instead be moving development of the franchise to Tiburon, which is the same studio that handles the Madden franchise as well as other recent releases (including the recently released MMA offering and the Fight Night franchise).

NBA Elite 11 marked a new direction for the franchise, which featured a significant new change in the player control as well as other key elements. When the demo was released, the comments were brutal, and so much so that EA moved to delay the release of the title while they went back to the drawing board to see what could be done to set things right and get the title out the door.

The decision to move the franchise to Tiburon is also resulting in what EA is calling a personnel restructuring that is resulting in some job losses. While EA is spinning the decision as being made in the name of cost-efficiency, the reality is that jobs are being lost; and it is possible that some studios that have done development for EA on a number of franchises will also be re-evaluated.

Perhaps the best news out of the decision to delay NBA Elite 11 is that the new NBA Jam release will be coming out as a full box release for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Originally, it was announced that the new NBA Jam for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 would only be offered as a download to those that purchased NBA Elite 11. Now, the new boxed release of NBA Elite 11 will be set to arrive on November 15th for $50 and will include all of the features in the Wii version plus multiplayer for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 buyers.

Well, it is that time of the year when Microsoft releases its holiday bundles. This year, things are likely to be a bit different, as sources tell us that Microsoft will be pushing retailers to go with stocking the Kinect bundles as their primary Xbox offerings this holiday season.

We have learned, however, that the Elite bundle for this holiday season will be a good one, as it will offer Forza Motorsport 3 and Alan Wake. In addition you will receive the new slim console in black with the 250GB hard drive, plus a wireless controller and a single wired headset.

Right now we have confirmation of the Elite holiday bundle for Canada and Europe, but sources whisper that we will see it in the U.S, as well, but not till after the Kinect launch is over. Both titles are a good choice for Microsoft and since they are both Microsoft titles, we are sure that they are getting a good deal on them.

We have no word yet if Microsoft will offer some sort of a title pack-in for the $199 Arcade edition this holiday season, but since they have some cost savings because of the move to the new slim console, it does seem likely.

Forza 3 and Alan Wake Canada and Europe, for sure

Well, it is that time of the year when Microsoft releases its holiday bundles. This year, things are likely to be a bit different, as sources tell us that Microsoft will be pushing retailers to go with stocking the Kinect bundles as their primary Xbox offerings this holiday season.

We have learned, however, that the Elite bundle for this holiday season will be a good one, as it will offer Forza Motorsport 3 and Alan Wake. In addition you will receive the new slim console in black with the 250GB hard drive, plus a wireless controller and a single wired headset.

Right now we have confirmation of the Elite holiday bundle for Canada and Europe, but sources whisper that we will see it in the U.S, as well, but not till after the Kinect launch is over. Both titles are a good choice for Microsoft and since they are both Microsoft titles, we are sure that they are getting a good deal on them. We have no word yet if Microsoft will offer some sort of a title pack-in for the $199 Arcade edition this holiday season, but since they have some cost savings because of the move to the new slim console, it does seem likely.

NBA Elite 11 was scheduled to hit the streets in a week, but apparently Electronic Arts has pulled the plug at the last minute and is postponing the release. While no new ship date has been announced, it is being called a postponement or a delay, depending on who you seem to ask.

The reasons for the delay, or postponement if you will, seem to center around quality concerns that were raised by reaction to the recently released demo. According to a posting on the blog of EA Sports President Peter Moore, "The decision to delay NBA ELITE 11 was hard because the game has great promise. But ultimately we feel this is the right thing to do. We've been making steady progress on basketball for the past few years and it's going to take extra time to make the game."

Perhaps the biggest tie to NBA Elite 11 might have been the announcement by EA that it would include a code to download the new NBA Jam on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. With the news of the delay, a ray of good news also arrived with the announcement that EA will be releasing NBA Jam for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in time for the holidays, and it will be a standalone product and not part of the NBA Elite 11 release. Right now, we still don’t know if it will be an actual title in-store release or a digital download. The price for the Xbox/PS3 version of NBA Jam is also unknown, as well whether it will continue to be a limited offering; while the Wii will still get the full NBA Jam experience when it arrives on October 5th.

In addition, Moore says that NBA Live 10 will still be supported for the 2010/2011 season including full roster updates and digital DNA updates. These DLC add-ons to the NBA Live 10 title will be free.

The decision to take additional time on NBA Elite 11 is reportedly a direct response to the feedback that it received from consumers. NBA Elite 11 is now looking at a Q1 2011 release and fewer sales, as the NBA 2K franchise will have already had a significant head start on sales. NBA Elite 11 was to chart a new direction in the franchise, and to do this it was the job of NHL producer David Littman to get the franchise back on track.

It seems now that things were much worse than initially thought; but the delay ends the NBA Jam pack-in code issue and the additional time should yield a much better end product. However, we expect sales to lag behind the 2K Sports offering. While it isn’t being whispered yet, with the sharp criticism that the demo got and now the delay we would not be surprised if the title might take a year off to undergo some additional work and tuning before it gets released on what will become NBA Elite 12. It could come to pass.